


she (means everything to me)

by MajesticAnna



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018) Season 5 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25173652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MajesticAnna/pseuds/MajesticAnna
Summary: Emptiness pulls at her skin, a void in her heart that will never be filled again. She lost her best friend, and worse, to the enemy.++The beginning and end of Catra's story.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	she (means everything to me)

Catra goes back to the Horde. Alone.

The Horde’s tank ambles its way back to the main base, the slow crunch of the treads on dirt the only thing Catra can hear. She sits far from the other recruits, their dull voices melding into a dull murmur in her brain.

There’s nothing. No laughter, no teasing, no banter back and forth that always electrifies her competitive streak. 

Emptiness pulls at her skin, a void in her heart that will never be filled again. She lost her best friend, and worse, to the enemy.

Stupid Adora. God, how did Catra not know? How did she not know that once Adora found out the truth, she’d run off to go and save Etheria, to a world full of glitter and roses, and people who express their feelings with disgusting declarations of affection.

Catra clenches the cold metal bench beneath her sharp claws. Maybe she did know, on some level. After all, it’s not like Catra ever discussed the ethics of the Horde with Adora. Catra simply brushed aside any Adora nonsense about doing the best for the world. It’s not like Catra really thought deeply about the way Adora believed the Horde’s war was saving Etheria

Adora has always been better than her. She should’ve known how quickly her allegiances could change for the ‘good of Etheria.’

And Catra doesn’t really care. Not at all. She doesn’t give a shit about Etheria or the perfect princesses with their perfect lives of sparkling palaces and shimmering woods. She doesn’t care about Hordak’s secret evil plans or Shadow Weaver’s obvious distaste for anything to do with Catra.

The only thing Catra cares about is Adora, and she left her behind.

Catra doesn’t know what to do with the overwhelming bitterness stinging her tongue.

A shuddering breath breaks through her chest, one that does very little to sew her sharded heart back together. The tank shakes and trudges along back to the base. 

+++

When Catra gets back to the Horde, she walks back to the dorms to bring her belongings to the force captain room.

She packs up her meager pile of possessions, ignoring the tidy bedsheets beneath her knees. It doesn’t take her long to finish, as the Horde has taught her not to have lingering attachments. Catra refuses to look to the wall, where an innocent drawing of friendship mocks her every movement.

For the first time since the battle, a sharp pinch of rage courses through Catra’s spine. She raises her hand to claw at the side of the bed but… she can’t do it.

It would be a waste, Catra thinks. Marking up perfectly good metal when the Horde needs to be resourceful, and reuse the bed for someone else.

In any case, when a recruit tries to take the bunk she leaves behind, Catra only has to snarl once at their bland face before they frighten away to a different bed. 

Catra moves the tiny box of her life into her new, expansive room. Suddenly, she doesn’t know what to do next. 

Adora was always number one, and Catra was perfectly fine being slightly adjacent to her. Ruling the Horde together, that was their plan. And Catra would have been fine executing her plans under the leader of the army.

Now, Catra has to take her position and prove what a big mistake Adora made.

Her throat squeezes too tight, the choking emotions swimming through her brain, clogged with regrets, of what should’ve been. 

She walks to her vast bed, curling up into a small ball at the very edge. She doesn’t want to see anyone, and they better fear for their lives if they ever come looking for her.

Catra closes her eyes, ignoring the world for a moment.

Tomorrow, she’ll let her anger take control, box up any lingering feelings and shove them deep down. Funnel all her pain into action, into destroying the very people who destroyed her, who took the only thing she cared about from her.

For now, she just lets herself listen to the emptiness. 

+++

It doesn’t work out how she plans. There’s ups, there’s downs, and then, Catra joins a side she had sworn she would never cross to.

But it is weird how life wants to constantly throw your plans into a chaotic mess, even if it all resolves to a perfect ending. 

+++

Etheria is strange, with the grass growing over metal shards and cracked earth. Standing on what was once the Horde’s homebase, she can barely recognize the place she spent half her life in. The eerie darkness is now shrouded in sparkly princess light, and Catra finds glitter doesn’t disgust her as much as it did before. 

Catra glances over the tiny dots of Etherians working on recovery processes, cleaning up wounds from the battlefield. She smirks, smug, through and through. The universe has Catra to thank for her big gay crush saving them all.

“What are you looking so happy over there for?” Adora side-eyes Catra, leaning her weight on the metal bar covered in ivy. 

“Oh, nothing.” Catra purrs. “Just thinking about how much you must love me to cover Etheria in a swarm of colourful flowers.”

“That’s.” Adora blushes but refuses to back down, glaring at Catra. “That was the magic stored in the core, not because—

“So you’re saying you don’t love me?” Catra asks, pouting. Her heart twinges but she chastises it to calm down. She already knows how much Adora cares for her—evidenced by the grass growing over the metal pad beneath her feet—she just needs to hear it. Again and again. Hopefully, forever. 

Adora huffs a breath, crossing her arms. The lovely blush on her cheeks accompanies her soft words: “I love you… more than I can put into words.”

Catra wants to hug her. She wants to put her hands all over Adora, to kiss her until she’s breathless, to whisper how she loves her, over and over, against her lips. 

And so she does.

After they break away for a breath, Catra puts her forehead against Adora’s. “Hey.”

“Yeah?” Adora says. Catra is happy to hear how Adora is as winded as her.

“Thank you.” The words weigh heavy on Catra’s tongue. She’s so used to ignoring her feelings that it is almost painful to have them finally be released. The painful scabs itch on her body, but she will let them go instead of fester beneath her skin. “Thank you for never giving up on me.”

“As if I could.” Adora leans in, her kisses petal soft against Catra’s lips. “You never gave up on me, either.”

Catra raises an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.

Adora smiles. “I saw you didn’t touch the picture of us. Specifically, the one on our old bed.”

Catra’s eyes widen, but Adora continues: “I was cleaning up the rubble, as we do, trying to see if I left anything important, and when I got to our old dorm—”

“Stop!” Catra swipes a hand over Adora’s mouth, careful to not scratch with her claws. “You’re so embarrassing!”

Adora’s eyes twinkle, patient, until Catra finally removes her hand. She grabs Catra’s falling hand, and brings it to her lips. “Then, we can be embarrassing together.”

Catra’s mouth twitches, a warm smile blossoming against her cheeks. How could she have ever deceived herself from the truth? She needs Adora, she needs this, always.

If Adora is the shining light of Etheria, then Catra will always be there to remind her to save energy for herself, too.

“God, I love you,” Catra says, leaning forward to capture Adora’s lips once more.

Then, she can’t speak for some time, caught up in the overwhelming affection with her favorite person in the world.

“Hey! Adora, Catra, are you up there? Can you guys lend a hand?” A voice yells from below. Probably one of Adora’s princess friends, and Catra is willing to ignore them, caught up in her own world. But Adora leans back with flushed cheeks, readying a response, so Catra cuts her off with—

“She’s done enough.” Adora laughs, trying to worm around Catra’s refusal, but Catra holds her around the waist with one hand and places a single finger against Adora’s mouth to quiet her.

The voice sounds exasperated. “We could use her—”

“She’ll be down soon, give us a minute!” With that, Catra pulls Adora against her body, feeling Adora chuckle into her shoulder.

“Fine.” The voice says, but Catra has long stopped paying attention. She only listens to the soft melodies of Adora’s laugh, and the warmth that spreads to her fingers and toes.

Adora came back, for her. To spend hours laughing together and teasing back and forth, to know they will always come back together.

Catra is no longer alone. 

**Author's Note:**

> adding to my fandom list, huh? XD
> 
> I always want to write h/c for Catradora, their story is perfect for it. Hope to write more for them soon <3
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> twitter: [@majesticdeku](https://twitter.com/majesticdeku)  
> tumblr: [majesticanna](https://majesticanna.tumblr.com/)  
> 


End file.
